John 11:9-10

11:9 Jesus replied, ¹  “Are there not twelve hours in a day? If anyone walks around in the daytime, he does not stumble, ²  because he sees the light of this world. ³  11:10 But if anyone walks around at night, ⁴  he stumbles, ⁵  because the light is not in him.”

John 12:35

12:35 Jesus replied, ⁶  “The light is with you for a little while longer. ⁷  Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. ⁸  The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

Ecclesiastes 9:10

9:10 Whatever you find to do with your hands, ⁹ 

do it with all your might,

because there is neither work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave, ¹⁰ 

the place where you will eventually go. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 38:18-19

38:18 Indeed ¹²  Sheol does not give you thanks;

death does not ¹³  praise you.

Those who descend into the pit do not anticipate your faithfulness.

38:19 The living person, the living person, he gives you thanks,

as I do today.

A father tells his sons about your faithfulness.

Ephesians 5:16

5:16 taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Colossians 4:5

4:5 Conduct yourselves ¹⁴  with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunities.

[11:9]  ¹ tn Grk “Jesus answered.”

[11:9]  ² tn Or “he does not trip.”

[11:9]  ³ sn What is the light of this world? On one level, of course, it refers to the sun, but the reader of John’s Gospel would recall 8:12 and understand Jesus’ symbolic reference to himself as the light of the world. There is only a limited time left (Are there not twelve hours in a day?) until the Light will be withdrawn (until Jesus returns to the Father) and the one who walks around in the dark will trip and fall (compare the departure of Judas by night in 13:30).

[11:10]  ⁴ tn Grk “in the night.”

[11:10]  ⁵ tn Or “he trips.”

[12:35]  ⁶ tn Grk “Then Jesus said to them.”

[12:35]  ⁷ tn Grk “Yet a little while the light is with you.”

[12:35]  ⁸ sn The warning Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you operates on at least two different levels: (1) To the Jewish people in Jerusalem to whom Jesus spoke, the warning was a reminder that there was only a little time left for them to accept him as their Messiah. (2) To those later individuals to whom the Fourth Gospel was written, and to every person since, the words of Jesus are also a warning: There is a finite, limited time in which each individual has opportunity to respond to the Light of the world (i.e., Jesus); after that comes darkness. One’s response to the Light decisively determines one’s judgment for eternity.

[9:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “Whatever your hand finds to do.”

[9:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Sheol.”

[9:10]  ¹¹ tn Or “where you are about to go.”

[38:18]  ¹² tn Or “For” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[38:18]  ¹³ tn The negative particle is understood by ellipsis in this line. See GKC 483 §152.z.

[4:5]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “walk.” The verb περιπατέω (peripatew) is a common NT idiom for one’s lifestyle, behavior, or manner of conduct (L&N 41.11).